What will come, will come.

Rory and Peter decided to take a walk when the 4 AM train woke them up. Rory was grateful for the unexpected alarm that helped her to avoid people. She assumed others in her building were shaken by the train as well, but unlike her, they’d decide not to leave the Victorian.

Rory exits the front entrance of the Victorian and turns onto 45th St. She has a view of the tracks and notices Munny Pang hanging on to the caboose. The last thing Rory expected was to see one of her neighbors out at 4 AM. Rory quickly turned around and headed for the park. She didn’t realized how foggy it was until they passed by the cemetery, but that didn’t bother her. All of her worries vanished with the recognition of time and conditions. No one could see her, which meant no one would talk to her.

As Rory and Peter walked through the cemetery, the fog seemed to grow. It was fairly silent until Peter heard a crunching sound. Peter sped in that direction, ripping his leash from Rory’s hand. Without hesitation, Rory ran after Peter. With the fog preventing her from seeing clearly, Rory tripped over a gravestone and landed face first. She rolled over to sit up but stopped when she realized the arm of a cross stood directly above her. And from that arm hung a silver necklace with a jade pendant.

Rory could hear Peter growling off in the distance. She could also feel warm surrounding her right ankle. Rory glanced at her foot and saw a mixture of mud and blood covering her white boot sock. She got up and limped in the direction of Peter’s growls. In that moment, she noticed a woman running through the cemetery away from Peter. The only thing Rory could see was the woman salmon scarf draped over her neck.

Rory had seen the news about someone disturbing graves in the city but wasn’t sure if the woman she saw was a suspect. She grabs Peter’s leash and they walk back towards the Victorian.

A few hours pass and Rory and Peter leave the Victorian to have lunch at Vietyum. After eating decided to go to the park near Only Way street. As soon as Rory entered the park, an old man shouted “What will come will come. Even if I shroud it all in silence." His yell startled Rory. She glanced at the little boy standing near the old man. He only shook his head as if to say “Don’t stop.”

Rory exits the park with Peter by her side. They return to the Victorian. Rory did not want to leave her apartment again that day. They’d eat leftovers for dinner.

“So many strange interactions,” she thought.

Not that bad

Rory never interacts much with the other tenants. Every time she walks through the lobby of the Victorian she keeps her head and eyes angled toward the ground. She and Peter decided to go for a walk that morning. Rory knew about the water crisis, of course, but she wasn’t worried. She always keeps cases of water stacked next to her cot as a makeshift nightstand. Even more cases were stored by the fridge.

Rory and Peter walked to Howell Park. She figured since it was early in the day she wouldn’t run into many people. Especially ones from the Victorian. She knew they’d attempt to carry on a conversation. On their way home, Rory spotted a trail of clothes lining Simone Boulevard. She and Peter collected the clothing. When Rory looked up grabbing a shirt, she realized she knew the man up ahead dropping his clothes. She’d noticed him a few times in the lobby but didn’t know his name. Rory weighed the consequences of taking him his clothes. A conversation. Despite her introversion, she decided to chase down the man, Peter running alongside with a sock hanging out his mouth.

As she expected, she and the man ended up having a conversation and she even offered to walk back to the Victorian together.

“What was I thinking?” Rory whispered to Peter.

“Huh,” Baker said.

Rory was a bit startled, almost forgetting that another person had been walking with her. She just told him that she was reassuring Peter that they’d be home soon. He bought it.

“So, why don’t I see you around the building often?” Baker asked as they approached the entrance of the Victorian.

Rory hadn’t been looking at man. Eye contact freaked her out. But today was the day she actually initiated a conversation with someone and offered to walk home with them. Rory looked up and responded.

“Peter and I usually keep to ourselves. In a town like this, you never know who someone truly is.”

Rory hadn’t planned to say that last line. She only thought it until it was out of her mouth for Baker to hear. She couldn’t decide whether she meant it as not knowing the people around her or really not knowing herself. Baker nodded at the statement and waited to make sure Rory had finished sorting out some internal conflict. He could tell by the look on her face.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you and Peter around. Thanks again for my clothes.”

Baker patted Peter on the head and turned to the elevator. Rory knew she’d see him again, just not if she would speak. Baker, on the other hand, made it his goal to figure Rory out.

Dear Peter

A heavy knock woke Rory out of her sleep. She never expects guests, so this came as a surprise, especially at nearly 9 a.m. She peers through her fractured peephole. All that’s visible is the lense of a camera. Rory cracks the door, with its chain still intact.

“Hi, I’m Anica Mathews,” a startling voice shouts at Rory.

The name sounded familiar to Rory, maybe from one of those magazines her mom used to keep in their family’s bathroom basket. She couldn’t remember, but she decided to open the door.

Anica’s crew rushed in.

Peter, who had been sleeping, began inspecting each crew member. Rory crouched on her cot, waiting for Anica to explain why she was in her apartment. Anica’s crew quickly set up their lights and camera, clipped a mic to Rory’s forest green pullover and started filming.

“Okay, first question: What’s your name?”

Rory smoothed down her dark wavy hair and answered. “Rory… Langely. Oh, and this is Peter,” she pointed.

Anica patted the dog’s head and moved on.

“Why do you live here?”

Rory struggled with this response. She had only told her therapist the real reason she moved the this half abandoned town. She and her mother had never gotten along growing up, so when she had the chance, she left.

“Hello?” Anica interrupted Rory’s flashback. Rory sunk lower into her crouch and asked if they could skip that question.

Anica whispered to her crew, “I don’t think we’ll get much out of her. Let’s wrap up.”

As the crew began to pack, Anica asked one final question. Out of curiosity, not for Southern Living.

“When did you get Peter?”

One thing Rory loved talking about was Peter. The 5-year-old brown mutt was the love of her life. Rory adopted Peter right before she moved into her apartment. She knew she’d be lonely, so she figured getting a dog would fix that. A few months later, her therapist recommended that she register Peter as an emotional support dog.

Rory explained Peter’s adoption. She became excited, as did Peter. He knew how much Rory cared for him. This left Anica grinning as her crew gathered their last few items.

“Nice meeting you. And Peter,” Anica said as she closed the apartment door.

Rory lied back on her cot with Peter beside her.

“I’m still not sure why she was here, but at least I got to talk about you,” Rory said to Peter.

Uncomfortable

Rory Langely sprints into the front doors of The Victorian with her service dog Peter trailing behind her. The two had just finished their weekly meal at Vietyum when they heard the generator pop. Peter flew under the table. Rory focused on controlling her breathing, as her therapist had instructed her. Soon enough, they were back in her ground level apartment with ten large flashlights beaming toward the ceiling. Rory prepares the makeshift cot for Peter and herself. She glances at her watch. 7:52– two minutes until her bedtime. The day was difficult. Sleep provides an escape.